Agreed: Google Search is your most favorite (or only favorite?) search engine. So much so that even after knowing that the search engine giant collects, stores and even circulates your search history and personal details within its advertisers on the sly, you haven’t discarded yet. Well, you do not have to replace Google with some other search engines if you consider these safety measures. Here are 4 easy tips to guard your privacy while you are searching on Google.
Don’t include your personal information in search phrases
You know that Google stores and remembers everything. Hence, if you do not want it to remember your personal details, then do not include your personal information in your search terms. Information such as your name, employment details, address, street name, social security number, credit card numbers, and phone numbers among others will expose you to hackers, phishing artists and identity thieves, and even worse, stalkers!
Limit the privacy of your data by selecting ‘Private’
You may save some web based services of Google such as, Picasa Web Albums to save your personal content. The default option set for these online services are ‘Public’. Make sure you change ‘Public’ option to ‘Private’ while uploading and storing your photos to preserve privacy of your photos. Or you may specify the e-mail address of the person with whom you want to share your content.
Deactivate suggestion option from Google Chrome browser
Google Chrome Internet browser offers Google Suggest option to track which web address you intend to type in the address bar or in the ‘Omnibox’. Chrome follows websites, search terms or text you type and on the basis of this data, Chrome suggests the address of the website. To turn off this option, you need to uncheck the ‘Use a suggestion service’ under ‘Under the Hood’ tool found under ‘Options’.
Search under ‘Incognito’
Opt for private browsing option from Google Chrome with Incognito. Google Chrome offers ‘Incognito’ mode as a private searching mode under ‘Privacy’ options. This private browsing mode does not store search history, logs of downloads, cookies on a computer when you close the browser.
In addition to these tips, we would recommend you to turn off ‘Web History’ option to refrain Google from collecting records of your personalized search history and not to login using your Google ID while you are searching. Do you find these tips useful? But we want to know some more fantastic tips to protect search privacy on Google. Share your tips and opinion below.
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